Thursday, February 23, 2012

Thank you so much for the beautiful flowers I received today in honor of "Dolvin Rocks! Teacher Appreciation Week 2012." They made my day so bright! The PTA has spoiled us with gifts, a yummy breakfast, and I can't wait for tomorrow's luncheon. I really appreciate your thoughtfulness.

A handmade rose by 5th grader Bela - who knew duct tape could become something so pretty?!?

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Fifth graders are beginning our annual tradition of building clay Face Jugs. We started out with this great video from PBS, which shares the origins of face jugs in Africa, and how they ended up the the U.S. Thanks to ArtMuse67 for sharing this video - we loved it!

Next, we looked at examples of face jugs in Georgia, created by members of the Meaders family of potters in the North Georgia mountains. We also looked at modern potters and designers who continue to produce face jugs in a variety of styles, such as artist/designer Jonathan Adler. Both of these artists often stylize their jugs by exaggerating or minimizing the size of the facial features.

one of the Meaders family

Meaders Ugly Jug

Adler, throwing a pot on the wheel

Adler's stylized face pots

Students chose a style for their jugs - either "traditional ugly", animalistic, or realistic - and formed the jugs from two sealed pinch pots. Stay tuned for the finished glazed examples, coming in a couple of weeks - here's how they're shaping up so far -

A few years ago, I had the great privilege of seeing an exhibit of quilts at the High museum that were made by the women of Gee's Bend, Alabama. I can honestly say that I have never been so emotionally moved and, at the same time, creatively intrigued by an art experience. These quilts were some of the most interesting graphic pieces I had ever seen, and were equally personal. To me, this is the ultimate combination in art, and not easy to achieve. It's amazing that these folk-art quilts - made from old clothing for keeping warm, by women who lived in a tiny, rural, poverty-stricken, isolated community - could rival any modern masterpiece hanging in any museum today.

Another Pettway piece, lovingly made by a mother and daughter using work clothes from the father, who had passed on.

Here's a little info about Gee's Bend: this small community in South Alabama was once a cotton plantation. It is almost completely surrounded by a bend in the Alabama River. There was no school there until the 1940's, and the people who live there are descendents from emancipated slaves, who continued farming the land and eventually purchased it from the government. Quilting is a skill handed down from generation to generation and is still enjoyed in the community to this day. The beauty of these quilts became known through photographs taken for a government study, and ever since, these quilts have adorned the walls of many museums around the world.

For our lesson, we began with a viewing and discussion of the style of the quilts, and how they were different from some traditional quilting styles, where symmetry and repetition are more common, as seen here:

Each 3rd grader made two quilt squares from paper, attempting to represent an article of clothing or other piece of cloth from their memory - a favorite dress, a baby blanket, a father's tie. Then we cut our squares into sections and traded within our classroom community in order to get a variety of patterns and colors. We pieced the sections together in interesting ways, keeping in mind the asymmetrical patterning of the Gee's Bend quilts. Finally, we titled our quilts with a meaningful name. Here are some pics of our process and results.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Pinterest has been a big hit with art teachers and parents alike. Here are two Pinterest inspired valentines from today - the "army man" one was made by my son Mak and myself, and the heart crayon was a gift given to me by 5th grader Jackson.

Here are a few more valentine activities from today... hope it's been happy!

Saturday, February 11, 2012

First graders looked at the works of some of Georgia's most well-known folk artists, including Howard Finster, Mattie Lou O'Kelley and Nellie Mae Rowe. Some of the things these artists had in common were growing up on a farm with a large family, and little or no schooling. They were self-taught artists who painted scenes familiar to them and used materials they had available - notice the sheet of notebook paper as the background in this drawing by Nellie Mae Rowe:

The notebook paper reminded me of several artworks I'd seen on Pinterest that used book pages instead of blank paper, so we used some old books that were damaged and waiting to be recycled for our backgrounds. We also looked at examples of folk art quilts - another example of reusing materials on hand for art-making - and made a "frame" from patterned paper squares. The uniqueness of all the chickens really makes me happy!

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Hey Art Teachers!

As Picasso said, "Bad artists copy. Good artists steal." Feel free to steal any ideas you like and use them in your own way. It's extra nice when you link back, so the chain of sharing grows stronger. Big thanks to those teachers who share their ideas for the benefit of kids in art classes everywhere!

Conversation Starters for Parents

"What was the inspiration for your art? Were you learning about a famous artist, a world culture, a place or time in history...?"

"What materials did you use? What techniques did you try?"

"What are you proud of in your art, and what might you do differently?"

"What style is it - were you using your imagination, your memories, or observing from real life?"

"Word Wall"

Elements of Design:Line -a path made by a moving pointShape - an area defined by its outline, geometric ororganicForm - a three-dimensional shapeValue - the lightness or darkness of an objectColor - hues on a spectrum; we use a color wheel madeof primary, secondary, and intermediate colorsTexture - the way something feels or appears to feelSpace - the illusion of depth in an artwork

Figure - a body form or shape

Composition - an arrangement of lines, shapes, colors, etc. on a surface

Craftsmanship - using materials correctly and taking care in the production of a piece of art so that it is neatly presented

Studio - a room or space where an artist produces and stores work

Portfolio - a collection of work, or the container that holds the collection

Positive Space - the shape or object that is the focus

Negative space - the area around the positive space; also "leftover" space or background

Media - materials used to make art. Most of our art in the classroom is one, or a combination of, the following:

Drawing: pencil, ink, pastel, chalk, charcoal

Painting: tempera or watercolor

Printmaking: creating multiple images by transferringink from a stamp or plate

Collage: shapes that are cut and pasted to a surface

Sculpture: clay, metal, cardboard, or other 3-D materials

Textiles: stitchery or weaving

Technology: photography, computer art

Styles of art -

Realistic:objects look as they do in real life

Abstract: objects are based on real-life, but are changedartistically

Nonobjective: a design; no recognizable objects are foundother than lines, shapes, colors, etc.

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Inspiring Artist Quotes

"I always loved art teachers because they were so bizarre. They were like the homeless people of the faculty -- all disheveled, wearing smocks, covered in paint, always digging through the garbage, looking for bottles and egg cartons and things."-Ted Alexandro

"Give me a museum and I'll fill it." - Pablo Picasso

"If I could say it in words, there would be no reason to paint." - Edward Hopper

"Creativity takes courage."- Henri Matisse

"One eye sees, the other feels." - Paul Klee

"I paint life as I would like it to be." - Norman Rockwell

"The way to get started is to stop talking and begin doing."- Walt Disney

"From the age of six I had a mania for drawing the shapes of things. When I was fifty I had published a universe of designs, but all I have done before the age of seventy is not worth bothering with. At seventy-five I'll have learned something of the pattern of nature, of animals, of plants, of trees, birds, fish and insects. When I am eighty you will see real progress. At ninety I shall have cut my way deeply into the mystery of life itself. At a hundred I shall be a marvelous artist. At a hundred and ten everything I create: a dot, a line, will jump to life as never before. I used to call myself Hokusai, but today I sign myself 'The Old Man Mad About Drawing' (Gakyo-rojin)" - Katsushika Hokusai